Seed-drill and cultivator



(No Model.)

J. G. SMITH. SEED DRILL AND GULTIVATOR.

Patented May 119, 1885.

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Unire STATI-isA PATENT OFFICE.

JOSEPH GRANDISONSMITH, OF KINDERHOOK, ILLINOIS.

SEED-DRILL AND CULTIVATOR.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 318,048, dated May 19,1885.

Application filed March 25, 18E-l.

.To @ZZ wtom t may concern:

Be it known that I, J OsEPI-I G. SMITH, a citizen of the United States,residing at Kinderhook, in the county of Bike and State of Illinois,have invented a new and useful Seed- Drill and Cultivator, of which thefollowingis a specification, reference being had to the accompanyingdrawings. 4

This invention has relation to gardeningmachines for marking, drilling,and cultivating a garden or field; and -it consists in the constructionand novel arrangement of parts, as will be hereinafter fully described,and particularly pointed out in the claims appended hereto.

Figure 1 is a plan view of a machine elnbodying the improvements of myinvention in place upon the track in connection with which it is used.Fig. 2 is a vertical longitudinal sectional view of the machine and thesupporting-rail of the track.

Referring by letter to the accompanying drawings, the posts o o, onwhich the trackrails are laid, are short posts, and project up# wardfrom the ground, as shown in Fig. 2. These posts o form the end supportsfor the guide-rails G H, upon which run the wheels A A and B B of themachine, the ends of the rails being provided with end castings, s s,

.formed with rectangular recesses s' s', which receive the upper ends ofsaid posts, whereby said rails are detachably supported in position. Thedistance between the rails G H corresponds to the width of the machine,or more properly the distance between the wheels A B. The object of therails is not only to guide the machine always in the same track, but isalso to lessen the friction by removing the wheels entirely from theground, and thereby rendering the working of the machine far more easythan it would otherwise be.

l have not given an extended description of the arrangement, advantages,and manner of using the track-rails, but reserved that matter for aseparate application iiled December 13, 1884, Serial No. 150,302, towhich reference is hereby made.

The machine proper is mounted on four wheels, A A and B B,upon the endsof hollow axles O C', the journals being formed by inserting into theends of the axles the inner (No model.)

ends of the skeins et a a a, having their outer ends threaded for` thereception of suitable nuts (not shown) for securing the wheels in place.As shown in Fig. 1, the rail G is `the guide-rail, being flanged toreceive the grooved wheels B B. The other rail, H, is plain on its upperface, over which the 'plain wheels A A run whilein operation. Theforward axle, C, is provided with the handle or tongue L, havinghand-rods J J, for the purpose of turning the machine around when theend of the row is reached. This handle is secured upon a stud or pin, a,in the center piece, F2, of 'the frame ofthe machine, and is keyed fastat its front end to the king-bolt w, serving to attach the frontaxle,C,to the frame-piece E. Through the end pieces, F F, and theintermediate piece, F, pass the hollow rods K K', carrying the gangs ofshovels, shoes, Src., as the case may be. The rods K K' areadj ustablelengthwise by means ofthe lever T, t-he pins t t of which engage thegrooves t2 t2 in the semicircular blocks Y Y, secured to the tops of thehollow shafts K K', near the center piece, F2. Each of these blocks hastwo or more grooves, in order that the pins may be shifted from one pairto another to increase or diminish the length of the longitudinaladjustment of the rods K K. By this arrangement the gangs of shovels maybe shifted in the direction of the length of the rods K K', the rod Kshifted in one direction and the rod K in the opposite direction, thusenabling the operator to perform very close adjustments to the rows ofplants under cultivation. The gangs of shovels are adjustable verticallythrough the lever X a-nd its rack-bar. This lever X is a double orsectional lever, and it enables the operator to accurately adjust thedepth to which the cultivators are to operate, or to lift them entirelyfrom the ground when turning the machine or moving from one field toanother. The lever X consists of a long arm, to which is connected ashort arm, X', and the stirrups X2 at the lower ends of X X are pivotedto the shafts K K' to permit their longitudinal adjustment by the leverT independently of each other.

When the machine is to be used as a drill, one set or gang of shovelsshould be removed entirely, and the other one removed and replaced bythe gang of drill-shoes. In using IOO 4o or plows attached thereto atsuitable points of the machine as a marker the gang of markinghoes onlyare in place, and when used as a cultivator the two gangs ofcultivator-hoes should be in place. The under portions of theframe-pieces F F and F2 are boltedonto the upper portions. This is forconvenience in manufacturing, and renders it easier to change the gangsof cultivators, &c.

As many rows of plants may be cultivated at one time as there areshovels on the two gangs; but ordinarily it is intended to plow onlyone-half as many rows as there are shovels, thus allowing two shovelsbetween each two rows.

In operation the machine is pushed by hand or drawn by horses, or a ropeand windlass may be used to move themachine on the track. If only fourrails are used, as the machine advances those in rear must be taken upand placed down in front. The operator may walk behind the machine,controlling the plows by the levers T and X. Then the end of a row hasbeen reached, the operator releases the handle from its piu, and,cramping the wheels, permits the machine to turn round like a carriage.

Having thus fully described my invention, what I claim as new, anddesire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States, is-

l. In a gardening-machine, the combination, with the rods carrying thegangs of shovels or plows, and provided with the grooved blocks, of thehandle-lever carrying pins to engage any one of the grooves on theblocks,

` so as to increase or diminish the longitudinal adjustment of the rods,as set forth.

Y 2. In a gardening -machine, the combination, with the end bars of theframe and the central cross-piece, of the rods having shovels 31emetheir length and arranged transversely of the machine and journaled inthe end bars and central piece, blocks provided on the face of the rodsand formed with two or more continuous grooves, and a handle-lever,pivoted as shown, and provided with pins to engage the grooves so as toincrease or diminish the longitudinal adjustment ofthe rods,as setforth.

3. In a gardening-machine, the combination, with the frame, of the tworods fitted in openings of the latter and carrying shovels or plows, anda handle-lever arranged to engage with the rods, so as to shiftone rodin one direction and the other in the opposite direction, and thus causethe pl'ows oi1 shovels of the forward rod to occupy the space betweenthe plows or shovels of the rear rod, as set forth.

4. In a gardening-machine, the combination, with the frame, of thejournaled rods carrying the shovels or plows, and a double lever havingstirrups connecting with the rods, and arranged to rotate themsimultaneously to elevate the plows, as set forth.

5. In a gardeningmachine, the combination, with the frame, of Ithejournaled rods carrying the plows or shovels, and levers attached to therods, the forward lever having an operating-handle, and the rear leverclasping the handle of the forward lever and sliding vertically thereon,so that both rods are operated simultaneously and by the same movement,as set forth.

In testimony that I claim the foregoing as my own I have hereto affixedmy signature in presence of two witnesses.

JOSEPH GRANDISON SMITH.

Vitnesses:

E. U. Garni-1s, C. BRAnsI-mw.

